Soon, the three of us returned to my office at the academy.
The adrenaline from the battle had long faded, and now that everything had settled down, the exhaustion on Apoorv's and Rakesh's faces was impossible to miss. Their clothes were still stained with dirt despite cleaning up at the temporary command post, and although Chansey had healed both them and their Pokémon, mental fatigue was not something that disappeared with a healing move.
I sat down behind my desk and gestured for them to do the same.
"You two did very well today," I began. "In fact, you performed better than I expected."
The two exchanged surprised glances before looking back at me.
"I wasn't expecting you to not only hold Typhlosion for that long, but also almost defeating it. Although the battle didn't truly turned in your favor, your coordination improved considerably as the fight progressed, and more importantly, neither of you panicked after Charmeleon was taken out of the battle."
I turned toward Rakesh.
"Congratulations on Meowth's evolution."
A smile spread across his face.
"Thank you, sir."
"Persian's evolution came at the perfect moment. Evolution alone wasn't what impressed me, though. The fact that he immediately protected his trainer instead of becoming distracted by his new strength speaks volumes about the bond the two of you have built."
Rakesh instinctively glanced down at Persian's Poké Ball before nodding silently.
My gaze shifted toward Apoorv.
"As for you, I was honestly hoping Totodile would evolve during today's battle as well. Judging by his current condition, he's extremely close. However, evolution isn't something that should be forced simply because the timing seems convenient. It'll happen naturally soon enough, and there will be plenty of opportunities ahead."
Apoorv nodded without looking disappointed.
"I thought so too," he admitted. "For a moment I felt he was about to evolve."
"So did I," I replied with a smile. "But that last step often requires something impossible to predict."
I picked up the notebook lying beside me and flipped through several pages.
"Charmeleon and Prinplup have both been trained extremely well. Their foundations are solid, and the improvements over the past few weeks are obvious. Charmeleon's reaction speed has increased noticeably since entering the academy, while Prinplup's battlefield awareness is already approaching that of an experienced support Pokémon."
Both students listened attentively.
"Of course," I continued, "that doesn't mean there weren't mistakes."
The smiles on their faces immediately disappeared.
"There were quite a few."
Neither argued.
That willingness to accept criticism was one of the reasons I had chosen them.
"But," I added before either of them became discouraged, "those mistakes are exactly why we're doing this."
I tapped the notebook lightly.
"If I expected perfection from first-year academy students, I'd be the one making the mistake."
The atmosphere relaxed once again.
"For now, the two of you should return to your dorm and get some proper rest. Today's mission placed both physical and mental pressure on you, and trying to train immediately afterward would only reduce tomorrow's efficiency."
Both stood up.
"We'll continue these sessions every weekend until the elite team reaches its initial five members. After the full team has been finalized, I'll begin assigning department missions regularly instead of occasional field exercises."
"We understand," they replied almost together.
"Good."
They bowed slightly before leaving the office.
The door closed quietly behind them.
For the first time since the emergency notification had arrived that morning, silence finally returned.
Leaning back in my chair, I closed my eyes and replayed the entire operation from beginning to end.
The deployment.
The battlefield positioning.
The initial engagement.
The coordination between their Pokémon.
Every command.
Every hesitation.
Every successful decision.
Every mistake.
Rather than judging whether they had won or lost individual exchanges, I focused on why each decision had succeeded or failed.
Rakesh occasionally overcommitted after gaining momentum, allowing his emotions to influence his judgment more than he realized.
Apoorv naturally assumed command whenever the situation became chaotic, but because of that, he unintentionally drew the attention of the strongest opponent on the battlefield.
Persian had shown exceptional instinct after evolving, yet his attacks became increasingly emotional once Typhlosion targeted Rakesh.
Charmeleon still relied too heavily on direct confrontation when facing physically stronger opponents.
Prinplup maintained composure throughout almost the entire battle, though there were several opportunities where he could have used the battlefield itself to create larger openings.
Totodile possessed excellent courage but lacked battlefield awareness, often requiring Prinplup to subtly correct his positioning without verbal commands.
One by one, I wrote every observation into my notebook.
Alongside each mistake, I added possible drills, training exercises, and combat scenarios that could gradually eliminate those weaknesses.
Experience alone made people stronger.
Experience combined with reflection created truly exceptional trainers.
Closing the notebook, I looked out through the rain-speckled window toward the academy grounds where students continued moving between classrooms and training halls.
Just as I was lost in thought, a hurried knock sounded on my office door.
Before I could respond, the door swung open and Ritu walked in.
One look at her face told me something significant had happened. Usually, she carried herself with an energetic confidence regardless of how busy the day had been, but now there was a mixture of urgency and disbelief in her expression. She was holding a tablet tightly in one hand, and it was obvious she hadn't even stopped to catch her breath before coming here.
"Aakash..."
She paused for a moment, almost as though she was making sure she wasn't misunderstanding what she had seen.
"It's appeared."
I frowned.
"What has?"
"The ruins you told us about."
For a brief moment, my mind went completely blank.
"...What?"
"The Pokémon World ruins."
She quickly walked over to my desk and placed the tablet before me.
"They've started appearing."
I immediately stood up.
"That shouldn't be possible."
I looked directly into her eyes, hoping she had misinterpreted something.
"It should still be another four or five months before the first ruins begin emerging."
"I thought so too," Ritu replied, shaking her head. "That's why I verified the reports three different times before coming here."
She tapped the screen, bringing up a series of satellite photographs.
"The satellites picked this up less than thirty minutes ago."
Several high-resolution images appeared one after another.
The first showed an ordinary stretch of dense rainforest.
The second, taken only minutes later, showed something impossible.
A massive stone buildings had appeared where untouched forest had existed previously.
Ancient walls stretched across several kilometers, covered in vines despite having seemingly materialized only moments ago. Towering pillars surrounded a central structure whose architecture bore resemblance to mayan civilization that had existed on Earth.
The third image showed military helicopters already circling the site while emergency exclusion zones were being established around the surrounding area.
I enlarged the image further.
My expression gradually became serious.
"Where?"
Ritu zoomed out to a global map before highlighting a small nation in Central America.
"Belize."
The word left my mouth almost unconsciously.
I stared silently at the images for several long moments.
The ruins appearing early didn't simply mean another location had opened.
It meant the world's evolution had accelerated.
If the ruins had begun emerging months ahead of schedule...
Then every event tied to that could also arrive earlier.
Wild Pokémon migrations.
Rare resources.
Ancient technologies.
Powerful artifacts.
Legendary sightings.
Even the appearance of high-ranking Pokémon habitats.
None of them could be trusted to follow status quo.
I slowly leaned back in my chair.
"This changes everything."
Ritu remained silent, allowing me time to organize my thoughts.
After nearly a minute, I finally looked up.
"Has anyone entered the ruins yet?"
She shook her head.
"Not yet. Every major news agency is reporting it as an unexplained archaeological discovery. Belize tried to enter but were pushed back by an unknown pokemon not in pokedex. Belize has already begun sealing the surrounding area, and several other countries have requested satellite access to investigate."
I nodded slowly.
I looked back at the satellite images one final time before speaking.
"Inform the Research Department, Slowking's team, and Captain Sethi that an emergency meeting will be held within the hour."